Of ‘duckers and divers’, mice and men: the impact of market fundamentalism in FE colleges post‐incorporation

Abstract

This paper provides a critique of the current policy orthodoxy of using markets to organise and structure education provision in England, focusing in particular on Further Education (FE) provision. Starting from the context of New Labour’s so‐called Third Way, it sets out research findings that indicate that marketisation not only produces cultures that relate first and foremost to institutional self‐interest but also may be detrimental to quality provision for students. Drawing on qualitative research, the paper explores the impact of quasi‐marketisation, focusing on how one college ‘successfully’ negotiated the funding changes and the competitive context of the FE quasi‐market. The paper concludes by looking at the findings through the theoretical lenses of some key concepts from Habermasian theory.

Notes

1. The etymology of the word entrepreneur indicates that ‘undertaker’ in the sense of ‘to undertake or embark on something’ was the original Old French meaning (Harper, 2001); however, it is difficult to resist the more literal (and fanciful) translation of ‘between‐takers’.